That actually makes sense.  Either way it's such an insignificant amount I wouldn't recommend investing the perks.

Critical damage was such a missed opportunity

This is a real shame if correct and potentially marking the final nail in the Bladesman coffin. However insignificant the critical damage may be, surely it has an application in a situation where both the players health and enemies' health is down to a red hair?

I was recently looking at how much armour rating I could squeeze from wearing just heavy boots and gauntlets, fortified with a heavy armour potion in a battle vs a bear. I found that although the damage reduction was almost negligible, it was the difference between life and death on a number of tests and actually made for some exciting gameplay when I wasn't sure of the outcome against so simple a foe.

My argument, then, is that although there is often a better or more efficient way, when stripping everything back to basics the line between victory or defeat can lay in the smallest of advantages.

Something to keep in mind is critical damage is not a simple calculation as many seem to think.  Each weapon has it's own inherant critical damage rating that is independant of weapon type and material.  Some weapons have critical damage that is 50% of the base while others are 100%.

Basically, some weapons may be viable using critical damage while others will always be virtually worthless.  Some weapons even have a critical rating of 25% which is outright terrible.

Another potential modifier for this shout is using 'Dragon Aspect'.  Aspect buffs the strength of 'Marked for Death' by 25% (alas, not by 50%) which with 3 words would give us a maximum AR of -5,625 which translates to an additional +675% physical damage or an increase of 11.25% per second.

It also gives you a nice -20% shout timer multiplier so you can shout more!

Having recently tested critical damage for Ben I can state with confidence that critical damage IS considered physical damage.  It is lowered by an NPC's armour rating, which sucks, but it is also raised by MFD.

This was a pleasant surprise

Is Ghostblades damage modified strangely by MFD?

I've always been dissatisfied with that weapon. Would be nice if that armor penetration property got boosted higher or something, especially when mixed with critical hits and MFD...

You're a top man James, great find

I've always assumed that it was sort of like an enchantment or spell effect for +3pts of damage. But if it modifies the enemy AR then you might be able to exploit that. Even if it is an enchantment/spell effect, you could probably boost it with a potion of Fortify Destruction.

Speaking of which, I'd be curious to know of Fortify Destruction potions affect MFD at all (either in the damage health or damage AR effects).

Yeah it's like I knew this was a good shout and extremely powerful, but I needed to see this break down for the penny to drop exactly how good this shout is. I know Mason, you and others have explained it before and been staunch supporters but seeing the detail helps.

Teccam and Vasgen on the Help Desk urged me to use it for my 0AC swordsman project but I was reluctant to do so because of the MFD bandwagon accusations. After using it, though, it really is a no brainer.

I really look forward to seeing the lower damage weapons getting a new lease of life in builds thanks to this shout - I've always liked the aesthetic of a simple Iron Sword, for example - and I can see already that cogs are turning in heads more creative than mine. Exciting times for the blog!

 "Throw the book at him" has a new meaning now.